Our first big race of the season the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.  The  simple statistics tell a  story on their own!    1533 entries – 214 probably took one look at the weather, turned off the alarm and went back to sleep!  Almost a quarter of the fleet – 317 boats retired – damaged, lost mast, driven back by wind and sea state, the Commodore’s yacht sank!  Scaramouche looked like the only youth team to be entered and took her place with the other starters at 09:10, what followed was over eight hours of intense and close sailing requiring real skill and not a little bravery.

The 50 nautical mile course broke down on the day into four legs.   On the first, tacking into a strong westerly Scaramouche held her own against all comers  .  A real testament to the training and skill of the crew as tack after tack were crisply executed in heavy seas and – to put it mildly – a congested Solent!

Rounding the Needles gave all the competitors their first feel for the full weight of the waves and wind.  On this essentially downwind leg Scaramouche lost ground to newer boats and those flying spinnakers.  The same seemed to be true from St Catherine’s Point all the way to Bembridge.  Turning north and west Scaramouche was able to get back into the race and make up ground.  She finished a very creditable 14th – time adjusted – place in her own class of 45  boats.  A fantastic achievement for our novice crew on their first full race of the season.

If you get a chance to have a look at the main website to get a full flavour of just what kind of an exciting day it was!  JP Morgan Round the Island 2016